The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Canadians are paying more than ever to put food on the table.

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprint. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your

00:00:07.720 host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton-Cawortha Lakes, with new content for

00:00:11.600 you every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time, even throughout the summer. So don't forget to

00:00:16.940 like, comment, share, and subscribe to this program. If you're on YouTube, hit the bell,

00:00:21.700 you'll be notified when new content is being made available. On today's show, we are talking about

00:00:26.700 the Liberals' new national security food strategy? And will it work? Well, to give us answers is the

00:00:33.160 one and only Warren Steinle, the Member of Parliament for Regina Luvan. Thanks for coming

00:00:37.220 on the show once again. It's a pleasure to be here, Jamie. Thank you so much for the invitation and

00:00:41.240 looking forward to taking apart this food program that the Liberals have talked about.

00:00:45.720 Obviously, the Prime Minister said he should be judged by the price at the grocery store and

00:00:49.820 Canadians have judged him and they have found him lacking. Well, lines of the food banks are

00:00:55.080 getting longer. Prices at the grocery store are getting higher. No relief in sight, but we do have

00:01:01.700 an announcement by the government. So let's queue up cut one. We will show a bit of the Prime

00:01:06.380 Minister's press conference, then we'll unpack a bit of it. Play cut one. We are an agricultural

00:01:10.680 superpower. Yet for most Canadians, it doesn't feel like that at the checkout counter.

00:01:19.660 Grocery prices are up nearly 35% since 2019.

00:01:24.540 And today, the average Canadian family spends about $10,000 a year on groceries,

00:01:30.700 or $800 a month.

00:01:33.060 Now, one of the things we did is to look at the structural reasons for that.

00:01:37.920 There are multiple reasons.

00:01:39.480 Okay, who's been in power since 2019?

00:01:42.420 Well, really 2015, including 2019 onwards.

00:01:46.160 See, that's interesting.

00:01:46.980 And they always talk about things have gone wrong since 2015, 2019.

00:01:51.900 Well, this prime minister was Justin Trudeau's economic advisor during that time, during 2019, before he became prime minister.

00:02:00.080 So lots of the policies that were put in place that have damaged farmers and hurt farmers and really hit their bottom line,

00:02:05.940 like the industrial carbon tax for that, before we made them reverse on the consumer carbon tax, that hit farmers.

00:02:12.140 And fertilizer tariffs and the reduction of fertilizer.

00:02:15.060 they're really asking farmers to do more than less.

00:02:18.340 So there's no surprise that they've been in power for 10 years

00:02:21.220 and food has gone up every year over those 10 years.

00:02:24.280 Yeah, so much more challenging under this government for farmers.

00:02:28.240 And so the Liberals are saying, well, okay, well, we need to increase food supply

00:02:32.800 and increase competition, which is something we've said for as long as I can remember.

00:02:37.640 Even our former critic, Ryan Williams from the Belleville area in Ontario,

00:02:42.000 laid out a plan that showed how controlled the food industry is in Canada, especially with the

00:02:50.080 grocery chains. Three big ones operate everything, basically everything, squeezing out mom and pop

00:02:56.960 stores. So the tax structure, the food policy when it comes to fertilizer and the rules,

00:03:06.380 regulations and red tape that farmers have to go through constantly, they all play a role in how

00:03:12.420 we arrived at this point, which also is framed around horrible government policy. We've heard

00:03:18.640 this time and time again from these liberals. We heard in 2023, Minister Champagne called all

00:03:25.800 the CEOs of the grocery stores to Ottawa and said, we're going to make a difference. And

00:03:30.480 everything they've done has caused nothing but more inflation, more harm. Let's not forget,

00:03:35.700 Inflation is a big part of the grocery cost, and that's due to their reckless spending.

00:03:39.860 But this Prime Minister has said he'll be judged at the grocery store,

00:03:43.220 and they have done nothing to make food more affordable for Canadians across the country.

00:03:48.640 And let's not forget, Minister Champagne did say,

00:03:52.040 we're going to reduce prices of groceries by Thanksgiving.

00:03:55.420 But that was Thanksgiving 2023.

00:03:57.580 They've never followed through on any of these commitments,

00:03:59.840 and this national food strategy that they just announced recently

00:04:02.720 is going to be more of the same from these Liberals.

00:04:05.360 and Canadians are not going to see any benefit.

00:04:08.520 Also, the price of groceries, a big part of that is fuel.

00:04:12.040 And we just put forward a motion recently that would cut all the taxes on fuel for the whole year,

00:04:18.840 which would have related to lower grocery prices.

00:04:22.720 Once again, the Liberals went halfway, only took one part of the tax off.

00:04:26.720 So we haven't seen the prices drop as we should.

00:04:30.020 And that's a direct result of the government taxing fuel more and more,

00:04:33.180 especially with the industrial carbon tax.

00:04:35.720 Yeah, that's right. Absolutely.

00:04:37.880 And every time there's a tax along every step of the line, the price goes up.

00:04:43.860 And we have all these rules, all this red tape that farmers have to deal with.

00:04:49.480 We have processing capacity issues in Ontario specifically,

00:04:53.640 but it actually spreads out to the rest of the country

00:04:56.380 where we can't seem to get a food processing plant built

00:04:59.540 because there's so much red tape that there's no point in ever building it or even trying for an

00:05:05.060 application for it. And this hurts the price at the till. It's all affected. This government has

00:05:11.540 done this step by step. Absolutely. It's frustrating. My cousin's still a ranch in

00:05:16.440 Southwest Saskatchewan. They run about 200 head of cattle. And it's always said, we've been saying

00:05:21.780 it for years, conservatives. If you tax a farmer or rancher that grows the food, you tax a trucker

00:05:26.460 that trucks the food, you tax the grocery stores

00:05:28.800 that provide the food,

00:05:30.660 the end's going to be a higher price of the till

00:05:32.900 for Canadians, and that's just logical.

00:05:35.120 That's common sense.

00:05:36.220 The more you charge everyone at each line

00:05:39.240 of the food chain, the more it's going to cost Canadians,

00:05:41.840 and Canadians have had enough,

00:05:42.980 and this government continues to fail

00:05:45.240 when it comes to the food affordability crisis we're seeing.

00:05:48.320 They got an F for food security

00:05:50.100 from the food bank report that just came out.

00:05:52.740 The United Way report just came out.

00:05:54.300 that said more and more Canadians are having no money

00:05:57.800 at the end of the month, so they can't even afford groceries.

00:06:01.060 They're putting groceries on their credit card

00:06:02.800 and that's unsustainable.

00:06:04.960 So in Canada, like I said, three big grocery giants,

00:06:09.580 if you will, control all the little stores that we see

00:06:13.740 in some way, in some capacity.

00:06:15.960 If we had a true free market system,

00:06:18.480 you would be able to see mom and pop shops set up

00:06:21.980 that could provide a better price,

00:06:24.320 a better service at the till.

00:06:26.220 But anyone thinking about it can't get into that space.

00:06:30.640 There's so many rules, regulations, red tape to start up.

00:06:35.400 That's why you don't see that happening.

00:06:37.840 Whereas if there was more competition

00:06:40.480 and if you wanna make anything better,

00:06:42.120 you create a competitive marketplace.

00:06:44.640 We don't have it, same as telecom, same as airlines.

00:06:47.900 You don't see any better service,

00:06:50.940 any prices for the end user, which is the consumer.

00:06:54.240 Here's a perfect example.

00:06:55.720 A friend of mine in Cairnport in Crosby raises snow beef.

00:06:58.440 It's a cross between Holstein and Wagyu.

00:07:01.860 He gets that done in a local repertoire.

00:07:06.180 They can't sell snow beef across provincial borders.

00:07:09.320 This government also promised to tear down

00:07:12.800 inter-provincial trade barriers,

00:07:14.220 which would then have the ability for more goods

00:07:17.000 to cross provincial barriers at less of a cost.

00:07:21.260 So it's so frustrating that my friend

00:07:23.440 can't sell his snow beef in, say, Manitoba, Alberta,

00:07:27.520 or across the country, but you go to Costco,

00:07:29.660 and you can pick up New Zealand lamb.

00:07:31.860 So the fact that we have different regulations

00:07:33.860 and more red tape is also increasing the price of food

00:07:37.120 that you talked about.

00:07:38.000 So those are the barriers that are holding back,

00:07:40.140 like you said, more mom and pop shops

00:07:43.120 from opening up and providing local food,

00:07:45.500 because one thing we do have to focus on is producing more food locally,

00:07:49.600 but there's so much government bureaucracy in the way,

00:07:52.340 many people are turned away from going down that entrepreneurial path

00:07:57.560 because there's so much red tape by this government.

00:07:59.840 Yeah, it's that food processing capacity that we were talking about.

00:08:03.680 Unless you're federally regulated, you can't go across provincial lines,

00:08:08.420 but it's so expensive to be a federally regulated plant

00:08:12.260 that nobody is doing it anymore.

00:08:14.480 No one's starting it up.

00:08:15.880 We have cattle that need to be processed

00:08:17.800 and other ruminants and the like,

00:08:22.100 but we just can't get investment into those facilities.

00:08:26.100 Exactly.

00:08:26.520 That's the biggest problem when it comes to competition

00:08:27.900 is having an attractive business climate

00:08:31.200 that people want to invest their money here.

00:08:32.720 And that's one thing that we've talked about for a long time.

00:08:35.440 Our shadow minister for agriculture, John Barlow,

00:08:37.780 has talked about creating an environment

00:08:39.500 for more agriculture investment time and time again,

00:08:43.060 more value added, and this government just shies away.

00:08:46.580 Because quite frankly, I don't think they understand agriculture

00:08:49.220 or quite frankly, even care that much about it.

00:08:51.560 That's what it comes down to.

00:08:52.560 It's lower on their priority list.

00:08:54.200 I think the agriculture minister in this government sits at the kids' table

00:08:57.720 and isn't part of the decision-making.

00:08:59.640 And that's where you got to show respect for the industry

00:09:01.580 and make sure that you know what's going on

00:09:03.640 so that we can have that investment come back to Canada

00:09:06.800 when it comes to agriculture.

00:09:07.620 Well, the government has promised $3 billion over 10 years to hopefully reduce our reliance on imported food.

00:09:15.600 See if that works.

00:09:16.680 We have a different climate here, right?

00:09:18.800 More money for increased competition, how that's going to play out.

00:09:23.020 But again, a lot of this is borrowed money.

00:09:24.820 This is money that we don't have, where the solutions are actually quite simple.

00:09:29.780 Just bring government out of the way, get taxes under control, and create an environment where farmers can make money.

00:09:35.920 You don't have to spend more money.

00:09:37.380 You have to make sure that there is that climate.

00:09:40.600 Lower taxes, get rid of some regulation,

00:09:43.080 make it more attractive again for people to come back to the agriculture industry

00:09:46.300 and help them get to that value added so that you can tear down the barriers

00:09:50.640 so that they can sell their goods across the country and around the world.

00:09:53.880 I bet you that would be your friend's beef would be more than welcome in Ontario

00:09:57.680 if we could actually get it here.

00:09:59.220 Absolutely.

00:09:59.860 It's incredible.

00:10:00.880 It's easier to do business in other countries than it is Canada in some circumstances.

00:10:05.080 It's just mind-boggling why this continues to be accepted.

00:10:08.900 But it is also transitioning into other areas of people's life.

00:10:12.640 They can't afford to eat.

00:10:13.480 They can't afford rent.

00:10:14.620 Now we have people who are working with jobs,

00:10:17.820 and this has been growing for a number of years,

00:10:19.980 that are now living in tents and campers.

00:10:22.840 And we have a news story about this.

00:10:24.140 This is in southwestern Ontario.

00:10:25.820 Let's queue up cut two and play cut two.

00:10:29.160 Highway carpool parking lots with a number of permanent residents.

00:10:32.980 It's another sign of the housing crisis and people desperately looking for a place to live.

00:10:38.020 Our pool parking lot is not much.

00:10:41.180 My backyard of sorts, I guess.

00:10:43.980 But for nearly a year, it's been home for George and his girlfriend.

00:10:47.740 Well, I was working and then I suddenly lost work and I couldn't pay my rent anymore.

00:10:54.560 So it actually just started off with me just staying in my truck.

00:10:58.420 George's story is similar to so many others who find themselves without a home.

00:11:02.760 My girlfriend works landscaping and then snow removal in the winter and I just work on cars.

00:11:09.780 We're hoping to save up some money to get first and last.

00:11:13.640 While still working, they say finding a place to rent has not been possible.

00:11:17.980 Everything seems to be getting worse under this government.

00:11:20.900 Worse, housing crisis, food insecurity, food bank lineups.

00:11:27.220 The list just keeps going on.

00:11:29.300 Crime is up everywhere.

00:11:31.340 Like, this is all caused.

00:11:34.580 We didn't get here by accident, right?

00:11:35.840 This is all caused by bad policy and bad leadership.

00:11:38.840 Well, first of all, it's just sad that working Canadians are in the state that they're in.

00:11:44.080 And to show how out of touch this prime minister is, this liberal elite, he said affordability, just a couple weeks ago, he said affordability has never been better in Canada.

00:11:53.800 Well, go tell that to that gentleman that was just on the news, that's living in his car.

00:11:58.000 Tell that to the single mother that can't afford rent and groceries at the end of the month.

00:12:01.420 The fact that the Prime Minister and the Liberals are so out of touch and think everything is awesome,

00:12:07.420 Canada's a great country.

00:12:08.680 We all love Canada, but to create the illusion that Canada's on the right track right now,

00:12:13.020 it's just misinformation and the Liberals are doing it on purpose and just putting their head in the sand.

00:12:19.760 The first step to fixing the problem is admitting there is a problem,

00:12:23.800 and we do have an affordability problem in Canada.

00:12:25.680 These liberals refuse to admit that.

00:12:29.200 It seems their badge of success is how many government programs they can create and how many people they can put on those government programs.

00:12:37.860 Where I'm old enough to remember that the badge of success was getting people off a government program and creating an economy that allowed people to survive and thrive.

00:12:48.420 Absolutely.

00:12:49.120 Like their flagship programs of the lunch program, the child care program, the essential grocery benefit that just came out.

00:12:57.640 That's actually the essential benefit for groceries is actually admission of failure.

00:13:03.520 Like you shouldn't have to give out money to Canadians.

00:13:06.920 They should be able to have a job and afford their own groceries.

00:13:10.380 That's the sign of success.

00:13:11.780 Having people be independent.

00:13:13.140 But if you're left-wing ideology, the more people that depend on the government, the more people are going to vote for them.

00:13:20.120 This is all about playing politics and hoping that if people in Canada believe they need the government, then they'll have to vote for Liberals.

00:13:28.340 I would rather have people in Canada believe in themselves and make it successful.

00:13:35.660 Canada is when people are working, can provide for their own families, can have a nice home and safe streets.

00:13:40.820 And that's what Conservatives want to do.

00:13:42.440 Liberals want people to depend on the government.

00:13:45.000 As our leader says quite often, we want government to be small so people can be big.

00:13:49.460 Excellent line.

00:13:50.440 I love that.

00:13:51.280 We have here now, let's cut three, the Bank of Canada Governor, Tiff Macklem.

00:13:56.360 Let's get his take on things.

00:13:57.880 Let's cut three.

00:13:58.680 What is the time frame that Canadians should be expecting you to be looking at these global oil prices?

00:14:05.200 If we are at the end of the summer and we haven't seen much change in the global price of oil,

00:14:10.100 Should Canadians then be expecting interest rate hikes coming down the pipeline?

00:14:17.100 Look, obviously, the higher oil prices go and the longer they're higher,

00:14:24.420 the more likely it is that we'll have to raise rates to bring inflation back to target.

00:14:32.800 Wouldn't it be amazing if we lived in a country that had an abundance of oil and gas

00:14:36.980 just under our feet, waiting to be extracted in a responsible and efficient manner. Wait a minute,

00:14:42.280 we do. We do live in a country that has that, but we can't get it out. The government will not

00:14:48.380 allow us to build a pipeline. They say they will. Hopefully they do, right? We'd love a pipeline to

00:14:54.460 the Pacific. East Coast would be good too. But right now, the investors don't see a workable

00:15:01.900 environment in Canada to risk their money. Let's not forget that Mark Carney cheered on

00:15:07.480 Justin Trudeau's decision to veto pipeline projects that were on the books under Prime

00:15:13.360 Minister Harper. He has vetoed pipeline after pipeline. Imagine if those pipelines were built

00:15:19.020 now, how much better off we'd be and how we'd be able to export our high quality oil and natural

00:15:26.280 gas to Europe to help them get off the reliance of Russia.

00:15:29.800 Yeah.

00:15:30.520 And creating jobs and opportunities and wealth right here at home.

00:15:34.560 Can you imagine the tax revenue the government would be collecting right now from those operations?

00:15:40.860 Like, it would be incredible.

00:15:42.280 And people would be working.

00:15:43.780 People would have hope.

00:15:45.120 We'd be paying less taxes.

00:15:46.520 Less taxes.

00:15:47.260 Collecting taxes from projects.

00:15:48.960 Yeah.

00:15:49.260 It would just be a well-oiled machine.

00:15:53.100 But unfortunately, we don't have that.

00:15:54.960 So hopefully we can get some common sense into this government.

00:15:58.080 We'll keep pushing.

00:15:58.800 I know you will, Warren, and you're a good advocate,

00:16:00.620 not just for agriculture, but a wide range of topics,

00:16:03.440 including oil and gas and resource extraction in your home province,

00:16:08.060 which is a great energy-producing province.

00:16:11.480 You've got potash and a whole bunch of other things.

00:16:13.500 So we're pretty much out of time.

00:16:14.820 But as you know, the guests always get the last word, so the floor is yours.

00:16:17.900 Absolutely.

00:16:18.360 Just want to tell Canadians there is hope.

00:16:20.620 Conservatives will continue to fight to have safer streets in your community

00:16:24.360 and better jobs, high-paying jobs,

00:16:26.740 so that parents can look after their own kids 0.83

00:16:28.560 and make a better life for everyone.

00:16:30.900 So Conservatives are going to fight for Canadians every step of the way

00:16:33.540 and make sure that there is, like our leader said,

00:16:36.340 smaller government so we have bigger people.

00:16:39.000 Absolutely.

00:16:39.640 Warren Steinle, Member of Parliament for Regina, Leuven in Saskatchewan.

00:16:43.500 Thank you for your time, sir.

00:16:44.500 Thank you for yours.

00:16:45.780 Don't forget, we will have new content for you every single Tuesday,

00:16:48.580 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time, even throughout the summer.

00:16:51.740 so please like, comment, subscribe, and share this program. Tell your friends to download it

00:16:56.320 on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. You name it, it is out there. So

00:17:01.060 until next week, remember, low taxes, less government, more freedom. That's the blueprint.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - August 05, 2026

Canadians are paying more than ever to put food on the table.

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